It first occurred to me when I blithely downloaded an album from iTunes the other day (the How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack actually...). This is fast becoming a bit of a habit, but the truth is I much prefer going to music shops and buying the physical CD (you know, IRL). I've always been a bit of an advocate of supporting record shops and not giving in to the undeniable convenience of downloading music, but recently - with a real and distinct lack of spare time on my hands - I've fallen for iTunes' charms.
I think part of the reason I was initially (and still am, to be honest) concerned about the proliferation of downloadable music, is its instant availability. And while this is obviously one of its great advantages, it also inevitably means that we start taking music more for granted. Going to a record shop, browsing the aisles, feeling the CD case in your hand, is a lot more of an experience than the 30 seconds it takes to locate and download something from iTunes.
Back to the train journey this afternoon. The carriage was humming with electronic music. A chino-clad girl sat across from me - iPod on, earphones in - looked completely unmoved by the music she was listening to. I'm guilty of this too - I listen to the same music over and over and, like anything else, I guess you do sort of become used to it. Whatever the reason, few could deny that music has become far more the background noise to our lives than the event and luxury it used to be.
But then I started thinking about it another way. Take food as an alternative example - anything other than what could be grown in Britain was once a precious commodity, available only at great expense and taking months to travel the hundreds of miles required to sell it in our shops. Now, thanks to the changes to the way the world works, we have access to different types of food from pretty much anywhere accessible to man. Sure, these foods have become less of a novelty, but think of all the enriching experiences and tastes we would have missed out on if we'd refused to change the old way of doing things, or to embrace new ways of living.
Now, I know I'm not saying anything new here. It's just something I've been thinking about - how we adapt to the advances made in the way we live our lives, and how we continue to value the things that really matter. Also, the How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack is amazing. Go
